Overview of the Marriage Institution
Since time immemorial, marriage has been strictly patriarchal; it only occurred between a woman and a man, and the woman was required to be submissive to her husband. Husbands were considered the head of the family; hence, the only authority and the wife’s main roles were to help her husband, become a mother, and raise the children. However, this conservative perspective has changed over the past few centuries. Do you need urgent assignment help ? Get in touch with us at eminencepapers.com. We offer assignment help with high professionalism.
One historical event that changed patriarchal marriage was the introduction of civil unions. This allowed same-sex couples to enter into an arrangement similar to marriage. Civil Partnerships Acts paved the way for the legalization of LGBTQIT+ marriages (Aloni, 2010). This marked a shift in the idea that marriage could only be between a man and a woman. A second historical event that led to the evolution of marriage is when couples decided that marriage was more than for baby-making. Most religious doctrines dictate that marriage is for procreation. However, in the late 19th century, couples started experimenting with birth control techniques to reduce the number of children in their households. Though the church was slow to agree to this idea, in the 1930s, the Anglican Church embraced birth control (Pavuk, 2016).
A third event that altered the course of marriage was when civil marriages were allowed. Accordingly, couples do not have to be overseen or guided by the church during their marriage proceedings. Today, in America, anyone can become an ordained marriage officiant, even through an online process. The last event that changed marriage was divorce. In colonial America, divorce was unheard of, but this has changed over time. Initially, couples were required to give faults as reasons for divorce, for instance, adultery or abuse. However, this has changed recently, and the reasons for divorce are not important. This simplified divorce process has led to an increase in the number of broken marriages (González & Viitanen, 2009).
References
Aloni, E. (2010). Incrementalism, civil unions, and the possibility of predicting legal recognition of same-sex marriage. Duke J. Gender L. & Pol’y, 18, 105.
González, L., & Viitanen, T. K. (2009). The effect of divorce laws on divorce rates in Europe. European Economic Review, 53(2), 127-138.
Pavuk, A. (2016). Catholic Birth Control?: Father John O’Brien, Rhythm, and Progressive American Catholicism in 1930s Contraception Discourse. US Catholic Historian, 53-76.
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Question 
In colonial America, marriages were patriarchal.
Overview of the US Health Care System
How have marriages evolved over time, and what were some of the key historical events that led to these changes?